Mounting for heavy vault-doors.



e. L. DAMON. MOUNTING FOR HEAVY VAULT DOORS. APPLICATION FILED 8EPT.16,1907.

90 1 Patented 001 20, 1908.

I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

. A? O O O O o u 3 J7 O0 f o I O o o 19- M o o o o 0' 0 T 22 oo f oo, oo f o o o o g O O G. L. DAMON. MOUNTING FOR HEAVY VAULT DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED 831953.16, 1907.

Patented Oct. 20, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5 i J 2 1 '3 o 0 O O F g v /0 Z r I j q 1 /a I "I M GEORGE L. DAMON, OF PITTSBURG,'PENNSYLVANIA.

MOUNTING "FOR HEAVY V AULT-DOORS.

Specification offLetters Patent.

Patented Oct." 20, 1908.

Application filed September 16, 1907. SerialNo. 393,181.

To all whom it'mcy concern:

Be it knownthat I, GEORGE L. "DAMON,"L citizenof the UnitedStates, and'a resident of Pittsburg,in the county of Allegheny and. State of *Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Mounting for -Heavy Vault Doors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates'to means by'which a heavy fire and burglar-proof door-may be mounted sons to swing out of the way to open a vaultor other likeinclosure and'be swung back and be presented with exactness in proper position to enter the opening which the door is intended to close and for which it is constructed with such accuracy as to :form therewith a'closure that is tight and proofagainst the introduction of gaseousliquid or other explosives.

In the construction of doors for heavy burglar and fire-proof vaults, which doors are now made of excessive weight,-it is customary to design the opening audits door with circular section and with'tapered and offset walls so that the door may be pressed firmlyto a seat in the opening, 'andthe fit is'made withsuch exactness as topass atest, which consists in placing the member con taining the opening, with the doortherein, in horizontal position and applying water or other liquid to the surface around the 'joint and ascertaining whether any portion'of the liquid will enter between the parts. This accuracy of fit is obtained bygrinding the parts after the manner of'fitting thestopper to a bottle. As a further security, suit-able felt oi"otherpackingmaterial is located between the offset faces for the purpose of further insuring againstthe passage of explosives. For'the purpose of seating these doors, which also involves compressing the packing, they are usually provided with compressor systems comprising a number of, cam -like latches distributed at suitable points around'the circumference of the door,

with their keepers on the door frame and having their shafts extending to the -center of the door and there brought'under control of a means by which they may be'manually rotated with multiplication of power. It has been found with doorsof this character that avery slight yield at-the pivotend of the hinge which'may result from wear or other disarrangement of the carefully dc-- signed ball bearings, and with the amplifying of the disarrangement thus produced, at the outerend of the hinge, which receives the door at its vertical diameter, the door beginsto dragover=the bottom wall of its opening, and'prevents a'proper seating and therefore leaves a crack or space at top, which becomes-aggravated asthe dragging causes wear on the contacting parts of the door and jamb, thus defeating the object of theexpensive method of fitting the door re ferred to. lVith such disarrangement,seating of the door'involves liftingit by forcing it up the inclined surface hponwhich it is resting. Inasmuc h as the compressor systems ordinarily used will "exerta pressure equal only to about one-fourth the weight of the door, which varies from twelve to seventeen tons, it becomes a *physical impossibility to properly seat the door and the consideration for the expense that has been incurred is thus defeated in a comparatively short time -afterthe structure is erected, I

Myinvention has for its'object toiprovide means for rendering ineffective the unavoidable settling in the hinges of doors of the character described and it consists primarily in so ba lancingthe weightofthe door that it is a "comparatively easy matter to seat the door, notwithstanding any i change in the adjustment of any ofthe supporting parts; this being accomplished by the application of comparatively little work.

More specifically, my invention consists in embodying at a suitable point orlpointsbe tween the door and the vault structurein'relat-ion to which it is movablysupported to swing, elastic means through which the weight of the door is either directly orindirectly sustained, of such strength that the weight of the door is yieldingly sustained either in positionto enter its opening or at suchclose 'proximity thereto as will permit the door being forced to its seat by sliding over that portion of the beveled face'of the opening whichhappensto be impinged (determined 'by the eccentricity of'the'door to the opening) the said yielding sustaining means continuing to bear theigreater por tionof the weight'of the door,=evena fter contact ofthebeveled faces so that theapplicationof ipower necessary 1 to seat the door is i comparatively small and well within the capacity of the compressor system; I so that the latter device may be used for its intended purposes of bringing the entire circumference of the door into intimate explosive tight contact with the surrounding jamb and imposing the compression on the packing, which is necessarily incident to such a seating when the structure is properly designed.

More specifically, my invention embodies a resilient support or supports which will expand and continue to sustain the weight of the door if the door impinges one part of its jamb, or which may be compressed, while still sustaining the door, when the door impinges an opposite point in its jamb, and this expansion or compression being attainable with slight application of power applied to the spring either through the cam action of the impinging tapered surfaces or through a similar cam action of special rubbing surfaces provided respectively on the door and its j amb.

One embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a vault and its door in which my invention is embodied. Fig. 2 is a section in the plane of the vertical diameter of the door shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail View of one of the connections between the hinge and the door, in which the resilient sustaining means is preferably located. Fig. 4: is a plan view of parts shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail view of an automatic centering device, the cooperating members of which are applied respectively to the door and the door frame at the point in the circumference where impingement or drag would take place.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, A represents a portion of the vestibule or other structure havin a door B fitted to an opening therein by tile usual beveled and offset surfaces and supported by a Crane hinge 0 having pintle bearings D on the fixed part of the structure and swivel connections E with the door in the line of its vertical diameter. These parts may be of known construction and they are preferably provided with equally well known compression system F-G.

The door B when constructed for a large fire and burglar-proof vault for banking or safe deposit purposes, will weigh from twelve (12) to seventeen (17) tons, whereas the compression system FG provided for the purpose of seating the door is incapable of exerting a pressure corresponding to more than one fourth of such a load; hence any sagging of the door or yield in its supporting connections, will make it impracticable to secure a satisfactory closure. To overcome the effect of such sagging, and for the purpose of embodying the principle of my invention already outlined, I provide a yielding sustaining connection, preferably in the form of a coil spring 1 located in a position to sustain the door in the direction in which the tendency to sag is ordinarily exerted. This will generally be in a vertical direction and downward, for which reason I prefer to locate this spring around the swivel pin 2 of the connection E between the Crane hinge and the door, both at top and bottom, the pin 2 being provided with a shoulder 3 to sustain the spring and the housing 4: of the con nection E being enlarged to accommodate the spring and receive its upper end. The leaf 5 of the connection E, which is bolted directly to the door thus becomes the means of supporting the door on the hinge through medium of the spring, the relation of the parts being sustained laterally by the bearings of the housing 4 on the upper end of the pin and on its shoulder and the parts being sustained against vertical displacement and the initial compression of the spring being established by means of a nut held to its adjustment by lock nut 7. 8 represents a bushing interposed between the pin 2 and the spring 1.

While the compression of the spring and consequently the vertical adjustment of the door relatively to its supporting hinge may be secured through the nut 6, said nut is primarily designed to merely bring the housing t in proper relation to the pin 2 and the adjustment referred to is more satisfactorily secured by raising or lowering the seat of the pin 2 in the bore formed in the leaf of the Crane hinge, to receive said pin, for which purpose said pin is sustained by an adjusting screw 10 that may be turned up or down by its protruding lower end 11, faced to receive a tool, and locked to any adjustment by the jam nut 12. The turning movement which takes place in the swivel connection E is preferably provided for between the pin 2 and the hinge leaf, and the friction thereof is reduced by a ball bearing 9 comprising upper and lower disks with interposed balls.

As stated, the particular construction of swivel connection E is provided at both top and bottom of the door but description of one of said connections will sutfice for both.

If desired, the yielding connection or sustaining means might be located at the pintle end of the Crane hinge, either at top or bot tom or at both top and bottom of said pintle; or it might be located in a position to yieldingly sustain the bearings of said pintle in 'a direction transverse to the axis thereof without departing from the spirit of my invention which contemplates any use of the resilient or yielding medium introduced in such relation to the door as to sustain wholly or mainly the load of the door and reduce the work necessary to force the door into seating relation to its jamb. It is also to be understood that my invention is not limited inits=applieatiomtma door; mounted upon a swinging hinge, 'for while the swinging hinge has iheretofore 'been the i only practicable meansdfsustaining aheavy door in proper relation'to the opening which it is to close, th'eease With which door can be brought into concentricrelation from a much greater degree of eccentricity,'by the use of myiinvention, will 1 make it: practicable to use other forms of supporting means than hinges, as for instance a vehicle 01' carriage by 'which the dooriis mountedto'move first in an axial directionandthen in any other direction thatwvill remove it togive access to theainclosure.

My invention would compensate for the yield in the support afforded by such a =vehicle uvhere doors mounted in the ordinary way: could not be returned to their seats after being once removed by such means.

\Vith a mounting constructed in-accordance withlmy invention as above described,

it is obvious that if the door sags into contact with the bottom (ii the jamb, the: springs adjusted topoint-where theyzare almost lifting the door will'malre itan easy matter to center'the doorlandiforce it'to its eseat. lf on the other :hand, the seat of the spring has been adjustedito such'sa'height that the door is supported' a little it above llES centered position; it is simply: a: matter of compressing the spring lightlyto lower the door into centered position. 'In 'eitl-rer'v event, i the door is -yicldingly-supported tldj'EtCGllt-tO-IltS seating position byua resilient"sustaining means 5 bearing such relation=to the weightlof the door as will cause it to automatically adjustthesupport, under the application'o'f a :relatively small seating pressure, while still :maintainingiits: sustaining relation 1 to the door.

I'preferito employ in practice that adjustment of 'the port which will :normally hold the' door slightly: above its seating center and to cause the automaticadjustment of the support to etfect the centering of the door, under the application ofthe relatively small seating. pressure, i to take place by diurther compression of thespring.

Vlhether the support be adjusted to sustain .the'door rnormally above or below its seating position, II :prefer ito rprovide means which willlrelieve=thedrag or friction between the beveled surfacesuntil th'e door is substantiallyseated and 'for'this purpose I provide a bracket .13 andz'a pressure foot l l mounted one on :the door andthe other on the door jambt(the bracket being preferably on the door :j amb) and With an anti friction roller oarried by ithe presserifoot so th'at theselp'artsbecomethe means through which the seating @pressure applied :to '-the door through the compressor system or:' otherwise is translated into a centering movement-of the door While the yieldingsupporting means automatically adjusts itself to 1 continue :its 1 support tofthe door. This portion of my invention therefore comprises cooperating centering means independent of the seating faces o'fthe door anddts jamb, mounted respectively on the door and a surrounding portion ofrthe structure at or adjacentto thatrpoint in the circumferencewhichis in the'direction of eccentricity and impinging during theact of closing the door'tocause the door to move to a position concentric with the i doorway. One of I these cooperating centering unembers (preferably the bracket) is adjustable in order'that it might beset so as'toaperformits function with accuracy. lVith the preferred plan of adjusting the spring to support T the door slightly above its seating position, these cooperating centering members will be located at thetop of the door as shown :in the drawings.

WVhen locatedati the top of the door, the member-carried by the door maybe conveniently constructed as a Apart oforimounted upon the cap 1:5 which covers: theupper end of the pin Q'andthe nuts' Grand :7.

:The springs aretobe -so built thatthey will yield and continue their supporting'rel'ation to'the door when thedoor-has been shifted :from :the point at which it is normally sustained. That is to say, thespring is built witlra high= coefficient of: elasticity, or with such stiffness determined mainly by its section andithewdiameter of its coils) relatively to the weight of the dooryancldf such length," that when the door: issupported with its-center above the center of the doorwviay, a- :relatively small additional load will v be required #to depress it the distance :required to center :it, "and, conversely, when the door is supported with its center normally below the center of the doorway, only a. small loss of lifting power results :from the :e-Xtension of the spring incident to centering the door, hence a relatively small application of'lifting force is required to center'the door. The loss of lifting power by extension of the compressed spring, or the increased resistanceiresulting from further compression of" a spring already under load is ordinarily determined by the proportion of thedistending or compressing movement to the entire length of r the: spring unloaded.

While "I have illustrated and described. my invention as applied toa =vault door of circular section, I desire it-understood that: my invention is i by 'no 'means :limited ito use on doors of this particular type but is obviously adapted with equal wadvantages 'to doors of other section, suchas doors having parallel sidesjoined bycurves or angles to form'- straight or rounding corners.

i aving thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by :Iuetters Patent, is:

:1. The 'COInblHfltlOn with :a door :and a structure in relation do which the door is i i'novably supported to swing, of a yielding supporting medium interposed between said door and structure, and means for adjusting the position of the supporting medium on said structure.

2. The combination with a doorway and a door, of means for supporting the door in opening and closing relation to the doorway; said door-supporting means comprising a yielding medium by which the entire weight of the door is sustained, and means for adj usting the height of said medium relatively to the doorway.

The combination with a doorway and a door, of means for supporting the door in opening and closing relation to the doorway; said means comprising a resilient hinge upon which the door is adapted to turn.

l. In combination with a doorway and a door, of a yielding supporting medium interposed between the door and the doorway; said medium being constructed to automatically adjust itself in its sustaining relation to the door and provided with means for adjusting its position relatively to the doorway.

5. In combination with means for movably supporting a door in relation to a doorway; a yielding medium sustaining the door and continuing its support of the door while permitting the door to shift in its own plane to center it with the doorway, and means for shifting the door to center it.

6. In combination with the means for removably supporting a door in relation to a doorway; a yielding medium sustaining the weight of the door and supporting the door normally above the doorway, and means for forcing the door downwardly to its seat in the doorway.

7. In combination with means for supporting a door in movable relation to its doorway; a yielding sustaining medium interposed in said supporting means which normally supports the door approximately in line with its seated position, and means centering the position of the door relatively to the doorway, independent of the seating faces.

8. In combination with the means for supporting a door in movable relation to its doorway; a yielding medium interposed in said supporting means, through which the entire weight of the door is sustained, when the door is not seated, said means being adjusted to support the door approximately in line with its seating position and yielding to continue its support when the door is shifted to bring it into line with its seating posi tion; means independent of the seating surfaces for deflecting the door into its seating position and a compressor system for forcing the door-to its seat.

9. In combination with means supporting a door in movable relation to its doorway; a

spring interposed in the supporting means in position to sustain the weight of the door and provided with means whereby its position may be adjusted vertically.

10. In combination with means for supporting a door in movable relation to its doorway; a pin through which the door has swiveling connection with its supporting means and a compressible spring surrounding said pin and sustaining the weight of the door.

11. In combination with means for supporting a door, in movable relation to its doorway; a pin through which the door has swiveling connection with its supporting means, a compressible spring surrounding said pin and sustaining the weight of the door; and means for adjusting the position of said spring to determine the height at which the door is sustained.

12. In combination with means for supporting a door in movable relation to its \doorway; a pin through which the door has swiveling connection with its supporting means, and a compressible spring surrounding said pin and normally sustaining the door above its seating position; said spring being adjustable in position to determine the height at which the door is sustained.

13. In combination with the means for supporting a door in movable relation to its doorway; a yielding sustaining connection in said supporting means comprising a shouldered pin, a spring resting upon the shoulder of the pin, and a bearing member carried by the door, receiving the pin and resting upon the spring.

14:. In combination with a door, its doorway and means for resiliently mounting the door in relation to its doorway; a centering means independent of the seating faces of the door comprising two contacting members carried respectively by the door and surrounding portion of the doorway.

15. In combination with a door, a doorway and means supporting a door in movable relation to the doorway; a bracket and a presser foot carried respectively by the door and a surrounding portion of the doorway in position to impinge one against the other as the door approaches its seat and cause the door to be centered with the doorway to permit its proper seating.

16. The hereinbefore described centering attachment for doors, comprising a presser foot carrying an anti-friction roller and a bracket provided with a traverse surface; said bracket and presser foot being secured respectively to the door frame and the door in position to cause impingement between the roller and the traverse surface as the door approaches its seat and cause the centering of the door.

17 In combination with a hinged door, its doorway and a compressor system for forcing the door to its seat; auxiliary centering means for relieving the Work imposed upon ary, 1907. the compressor system in centering the door, GEORGE L DAMON said means comprising an adjustable resilient medium interposed between the door and Witnesses: its hinge. JNO. B. ENRIOH,

The foregoing specification signed at Pitts- R. B. CooNEY.

burg, Pennsylvania this first day of Febr 

